On Thursday morning, BART will participate in the Great California ShakeOut earthquake drill, along with more than 10 million Californians.
According to a BART media advisory, BART engineers will trigger an earthquake alarm about 10:15 a.m., causing trains to automatically slow to 27 miles per hour. During the drill, the agency will test its notification systems, and BART’s Operation Control Center will publicly announce the agency’s participation in the statewide drill.
Aside from taking part in the ShakeOut drill — a large statewide drill that attracts a variety of organizational and individual participants, including UC Berkeley — BART tests its earthquake preparedness several times a year.
BART spokesperson Taylor Huckaby called the drill an “opportunity for us to highlight our safety measures.”
In the event of an actual earthquake, all trains will immediately stop for at least five minutes, except for those in the Transbay Tube or Berkeley Hills Tunnel, which would proceed to the nearest station and halt there. BART would then evaluate damages and decide whether to resume service.
